By Shim Jae-yun
Staff Reporter

President Roh Moo-hyun on Wednesday criticized the opposition Grand National Party (GNP) for staging an outdoor anti-government protest, describing it as illegal sabotage by the majority party.

``Carrying out the struggle outside the National Assembly is like discarding the principle of democracy and resorting to outdated tactics used by minor opposition parties in the past,’’ Roh said during a meeting with a group of journalists based in the southwestern Cholla Province at Chong Wa Dae.

Roh, however, made it clear that he would accept the special prosecutor bill once it is passed through a second review at the National Assembly with the support of a two-thirds vote of all lawmakers.

Chong Wa Dae called on the Grand National Party chairman Choe Byung-yul to stop his hunger strike and GNP lawmakers to return to the National Assembly.

Presidential spokesman Yoon Tai-young criticized the party for ``irritating the people with extreme political maneuvering like the protest sit-in and refusal to attend the Assembly.’’

``The GNP, which has been employing blackmail politics, is again threatening the state of the nation by announcing it would stage an outdoor anti-government struggle,’’ Yoon said during a media briefing.

Yoon rebuffed GNP’s demand Chong Wa Dae rescind its decision to veto the special prosecutor bill introduced by the GNP, saying Roh made the decision to veto to defend the Constitution.

He renewed the presidential office’s aim to put the special bill to re-deliberation in the National Assembly if the prosecution fails to carry out its present investigation into Roh’s former aides satisfactorily.

The pro-government Uri Party on Wednesday criticized the GNP, despite the GNP’s status as the largest political party, for having plunged the national administration of affairs into chaos.

Party leader Kim Won-ki urged the GNP to return to the Assembly at an early date to deal with pending issues including the free trade agreement with Chile and other bills significant to the economy.

The minority opposition Millennium Democratic Party also argued GNP’s anti-government struggle outside the Assembly is inappropriate.


jayshim@koreatimes.co.kr